A Bloody Feather
by Twiggy727
Summary: Two owls were hatched on the same night and share distant blood but their destinies took totally different turns.Living in a world of battle and murder, two young barn owls named Shaze and Shamere. One becomes high ruler of the Pure Ones, the other a high rank in the Great Tree. Their shared blood can lead to the death of the other...
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I don't know if this story will be good so I'll only write this one chapter.

Prologue

Rain pounded harshly into the ocean below. The massive waves bashed against one another and rocks sticking above the surface. Through the storm, two barn owls flew against the raging winds. They whore golden masks with a design etched deep into them. They narrowed their dark eyes against the sea salt that sprayed from the tall waves below.

"We can make it we are the only two who survived!" One shrieked above the roar of the wind, flapping her frayed wings frantically. The other shouted a response but his voice was drowned by a loud roll of thunder. She remembered the terrible battle. Five owls, an elf, two great grays, her and the other barn owl had gone to check Broken Talon Point where some Pure Ones had been reported. Two had died in battle one had been wounded and couldn't make it far. The two barn owls were the only ones who had made survived the attack when they found the Pure Ones.

"I don't think I can make it!" The other barn owl shouted, he seemed to be losing strength swiftly.

"You have too—" She was cut off by a blood curdling scream. She swiveled her head over to look at her companion to find that he wasn't there. He had been sucked away by an air current. She looked up to see him corkscrew down, screeching madly.

"No!" She yelled. Then the barn owl bashed against a rock with a loud "crack." She saw him lying motionless on the rock. She tried to fly over to him but a yelp stopped her.

"No. The air current is too strong. You can't lift me out of it without getting sucked in." He warned clinging to the rock with one foot.

"I can't just let you die! You're all I have left!" She protested hovering above where her companion lay. He smirked and let go off the rock letting the hungry waves swallow him.

"No! No!" She sobbed madly as tears streamed down her face, mixing with the water. "No." She looked at the rock were the other owl had disappeared. She was surprised to see a small bloody feather clinging to the wet rock. She swiftly swooped down and snatched the feather fighting against the current trying to yank her away. She broke free and continued to fly back to the Great Tree. She held the feather close for the owl that had just sank beneath the waves was her brother…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

"It is quite small. Do you think it could ever carry on a blessing?" A deep voice rumbled the first he heard. He blinked open his brown, almost black, eyes and swiveled his head to look around his surroundings until he focused on a large owl looming above him.

"You show too much favoritism!" another owl screeched angrily. "Soren wasn't the first born and he is now the most respected piece of history in our library!" she stated.

"I know but I am the eldest of my family and I am now king. My two younger brothers are soldiers of our military but this little owlet is so small. He hardly has a chance…" The large barn owl trailed off.

"His is still your son and my new brother. Even if you were to cast him out of the nest or give him to another owl, he is still of your blood." Yet another owl piped up. He was much younger than the other two and his down was just now becoming loose. He stared at the new hatchling with kind eyes. The father, who was king of the Ga'hoole Tree, snorted with disgust.

"He will have to prove his worth and if he is anything like me. If he is too week the only thing he will be good for is raccoon chow." The small baby owl looked up innocently as if he knew of nothing but, though young, he could sense that something was terribly wrong.

….

Somewhere far away, halfway across the owl kingdoms another owl was hatching. His eyes weren't even the slightest brown, only the purest black. He was surrounded by a lot more owls then the other, he had the blood of a different king. These owls wore white and gray masks, carved from the stone of the very canyon they lived in. This young owl was stronger, larger, and already feared by every owl in the militia. Two owls stood over him, Aryn, named in honor of the late Nyra and Kludd Supreme Ruler the ll. Kludd the ll looked at him with pride. He resembled his late great grandfather so much all that was missing was the mask, which he held in his talons.

"Slowly we are being rebuilt. We gather our forces once more and through this heir we become stronger! I welcome this owlet as an official Pure One and his name shall be Shamere!" She screamed the traditional words loudly, it echoed through the canyon ringing in the ears of each owl until finally it died down. Shamere already felt cold darkness rising inside of him, and he liked it as he stared upon the ancient ruins of St. Aguelose Academy.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

He watched as his older brother hopped from branch to branch, his father watching his every move closely. He was baffled that his brother, Timatsu could move so silently on the trees huge branches. Ever since the day he was born he had been fascinated by the tree, how many owls that could live in its great trunk and the delicious berries that changed in size, color, and taste every season. His favorites were the ones that grew in spring. They had a juicy sweet inside with a sour aftertaste. Usually his father wouldn't let him eat them so in the morning he would sneek out of bed and snatch some and stuffing them in his pillow. Suddenly he was wacked on the head with a large wing.

"Pay attention! You aren't going to learn a single thing if you have your head in the clouds all the time!" His father shrieked angrily, knockin his son to the ground. Shaze stood up weakly.

"Sorry." He muttered, looking at the floor shamefully. His father's face softened.

"Listen, Shaze, I want you to be strong enough to guard this tree or brave enough to die trying. I have to train you to follow the commands of your higher ranks and always be sharp and paying attention. You can't always be dreaming about Bingle Berries and fresh mice, okay?"

"Yes, father." Shaze answered with the firmest voice he could muster. His father smirked and ruffled the down on his head with one talon. "That's a good boy. Now pay attention." Shaze grinned happily. His father smiled at him! He rarely smiles at all! He wanted to impress his father, to prove he was just as good as his older brother but it had been very tough to do that lately. He had trouble doing the same things as well as Timatsu did. He didn't have as much stamina or nearly as much strength but he did have more brains and was an amazing hunter. He paid close attention to every movement and as Timatsu made everything that he could to serve as an upper hand. But eventually he nodded off. Luckily his father didn't notice because he was too wrapped in attention to his firstborn son. That night Shaze dreamed. He dreamed he was just as strong as his brother and fought beside him in war, earning victory for the Great Ga'hoole Tree. He dreamed his father loved him as much as he love Timatsu and that he could to do all the things Timatsu could…

His eyes snapped open. It was afternoon, way too early to be awake, but he felt so itchy! He scratched himself all over but it just wouldn't stop. He rolled around in the nest and scraped against the wooden edges of his hollow but nothing grunted and moaned as he scatched himself with twigs and sticks. He scratched for a solid thirty minutes. When he looked at the ground he was filled with fear and squealed. On the floor was some fluffy white downy feathers, stained with blood, his blood. He squealed again, waking Timatsu, who was not so cheery at being woken up so early in the night.

"What in Glaux's name are you doing!" He said groggily, blinded by the last rays of sunlight filtering through the hole to their hollow. Then his eye caught the bloody down all over the ground. He churred heartily.

"It's not funny! What's wrong with me!"Poor Shaze was close to tears.

"Oh, calm down. Your just beginning to shed your down. You're fledging! You should be exited, now go back to sleep." Timatsu yawned before nestling into the nest. Soft snoring told Shaze he was asleep. He tried to rest to but before he could, the itch came back.

…...

"Keep going! You must be strong!" Aryn shouted as her son who hopped from rock to rock holding the ancient metal mask of Kludd.

"I-It's heavy." He yelled. The rock points he hopped on were very thin and he was weighed down by the large mask he held. He knew this was a test. If he fell no one would save him and if he dropped the mask he could call himself dead. He strained to hold the steel armor in one talon and land on another spire with the other.

"I'm too young to be doing this." He whispered to himself.

"Keep it up boy unless you want to die." His father screeched, sharpening his talons on the rock under him. The mask was beginning to slip from his talons as he barely made it on the next rock spire.

"You are almost done, dear." His mother shouted cheerily, as if her son's life wasn't at stake. It made him happy to know his parents were very confident in him but pained him to know his father would kill him if he were to drop the mask or wouldn't save him if he fell. It would ruin Kludd ll's "pride." He began to hop back panting from the painful attempt. He stood tall and straight, though very soar for spending five hours on thin rocks a few thousand feet in the air.

"Good." His father said coolly. "You know, son you have been doing so well lately. It's about time I began to entrust you with more authority."

"Really!" Shamere shouted excitedly, the pain and anguish fading. He placed the metal mask in front of his father. He had gone through a lot of tests of strength and agility. And now his father trusted him enough to give him authority over the owls in the army.

"But listen closely!" His father snarled, sticking his black beak inches from Shamere's face. "If you give one wrong order I'll rip every piece of down out of your skin before I tear you limb from limb! So that's why every order you wish to give has to go through me first." Shamere nodded his head vigorously. His mother explained to him how rough his father could be and that he shouldn't take it personally but it was much harder then it sounded. If he made the slightest error on a trial Kludd ll would shower him with insults and curses and make him do it again. His father flew away ever so silently.

"He doesn't mean it, dear." Aryn comforted her son. It was a while later before Shamere responded.

"I know." Was all he said.

"He just wants you to be strong like your great, great, grandfather." She answered before she flew after her mate, leaving Shamere standing alone.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

He sat quietly in his nest, waiting for his brother to finish his branching. He was very tired from staying up all night from his itch. It had been bothering him for weeks now and he could hardly get any rest. It was pure torture. For now it had dulled but he knew that it was only moments before it would return, but the good news was he could see the tips of feathers, peeking through his down. This got him very excited. He was excellent at hunting bugs, hidden in the wood but he would love to soar freely through the night, feeling the wind in his face as he caught rabbits and voles. He could hardly wait.

"Okay I think that's good enough for today, Timatsu. You can come in now." He snapped out of it when he heard his father's voice. He waddled over to ask his brother if he would like to play a game when his father stepped in his way. He looked up into his father's white, heart shaped, face.

"Yes, Dad?" He asked politely.

"Shaze, since you are beginning to fledge I would like you to begin your training."His father said.

"Really? Yes! Finally!" Shaze jumped up and down excitedly. He had always wanted to begin training. This was his chance to impress his father. The King grinned at his enthusiasm.

"Okay, you begin in a couple hours. First I'll examine your jumping skills, then you will begin Branching, then once you are fully fledged you may learn to fly." His father stated.

"Yes, father!" He squeaked and walked away, barely being able to contain his excitement. "Timatsu! Timatsu! I'm going to begin training soon!" He shouted at his older brother.

"That's great, Shaze!" Timatsu responded happily. "You're beginning a little late though." Shaze saddened at this. Timatsu was right. His older brother was a born king, he was amazing at everything. He had started Branching as soon as he had begun to fledge and he was quite good at it. Timatsu saw the look on Shaze's face.

"But I bet you'll be really good at it. I bet you'll impress Mum and Dad." He said quickly.

"But you're so good at everything, Timatsu. Strength, agility, branching…" Shaze sighed. "I can't do anything right."

"Don't say that. You'll be fine. I'll help you through it." Offered Timatsu. "Like when you hop from branch to branch, don't focus on how high up you are, focus on the next branch and if you fall, Dad will catch you. Also if you think you won't be able to make it to the next branch, flap your wings a little when you hop. Even though you haven't fledged yet, your wings will give you a bit of a lift, and make sure to land on the less leafy parts of the branch,it won't make much noise, and if you can, land on where the branch and the tree connect, that's where it's strongest, and don't forget to-"

"Thanks, Timatsu, but can they please wait until I begin training? You're giving me a bit of a headache." Shaze cut him off. He hated the thought of plummeting of the edge of a branch. His father would have to catch him. Maybe his father would just let him fall, thinking that he was to useless to keep around.

"Maybe you should…uh… practice?" Timatsu insisted as Shaze hopped over to the entrance of the hollow, where the moon shone brightly over the large sea. He couldn't remember the name. He had learned a lot about it in books and maps his father would bring him from the Library, somewhere in the Great Tree. There was a tunnel in the floor of their large hollow. Their father had warned them never to go down there until he appointed them with enough responsibility. Shaze could hardly keep back from his insatiable curiosity but he didn't want to disappoint his father. As he looked at the breathtaking view of the sea he thought about his life so far. He was a good bug hunter, he loved books, maps and writing and could learn quickly but he lacked the strength, stamina, agility, and ability. He sighed quietly.

"You're right. I should practice." He said.

"Don't worry, Shaze. There's another owl out there who is worse off then you are."

….

"You've been doing very good so far, son. You have done the trials amazingly, you have executed orders perfectly. Every owl in the army fears you. Your Branching skills are most excellent…I am very proud of you." Shamere stood straight and tall as his father walked back and forth in front of him.

"You branched before you even began to fledge. You did almost as well as I did when I was younger. Most owlets don't do these things nearly as well as you do, Shamere. Believe it or not I had a sister, much older than me. She was too weak. She wasn't feared at all, she failed at all the trials. My father couldn't stand her so he executed her in front of every owl in St. Aggy's Academy." He said. "At first, I was sad at the loss of my sister. At night I would have terrible nightmares, reliving the day she was killed. I would wake up screaming and crying. I was so weak back then. My father wouldn't except anything of how I felt. He told me that she was always the weakest and that I had to move on, that love was a useless emotion and to forget her. I have mostly forgotten about her, I do not even remember her name and now, I don't really care. She is just a faint memory. All the good times we had together mean nothing to me anymore." Kludd the ll stopped pacing and faced Shamere. "I am telling you all of this because I want you to know the consequences of being weak. I want you to be like I am now. Do not waste your tears. Be strong and you will end up like me."

Shamere swelled with pride. His father thought of him as strong and brave! He told Shamere how great he was! This was probably the best day of his life. But the real surprise came when his father came over to him and smiled. He had never smiled at him before. He knew he was always proud of him but he had never smiled, ever. His father smiling him was the equivalent of him giving Shamere a big hug and crying tears of joy over him. Shamere couldn't stop itching though. His mother told him it was just a stage of life.

"I expect a lot from you." His father narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, sir." Shamere said loudly, saluting to his father. Kludd ll nodded, still grinning.

"You are dismissed." He ordered. Shamere nodded and left his father's presence. As soon as he was out of ear shot he whooped with joy and danced happily. Finally he was getting the respect he deserved.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: I dedicate this chapter to Crazybird101

Chapter 4

"Hush, child. It is time to rest." Aryn whispered to Shamere. He snuggled up in his nest relaxing after a long day. He was asked by his father to issue many orders and he had to practice ordering formations like Formation Alpha, Formation B. He was very tired.

"But Mum, I'm not tired." He said but a yawn defied him.

"You cannot fool your mother, little one." Aryn ordered kindly. Her soft brown eyes warmed him, like a blanket unlike his father. The glare he gave him stabbed into him as he were being torn apart by battle claws.

"Mum." He said groggily.

"Yes, Shamere?" She asked.

"Can you sing me that song? The one you would always sing to me when I was an owlet." He requested hopefully. Aryn grinned.

"Aren't you a little old for that?" She told him. But she had already began to sing the lullaby

"In the silent night, the moon shining

When the birds are silent and the owls come out

When yummy bunnies hop about

When the wind blows over the trees

The sound of busy buzzing bees

Can be heard through the forest

Nice plump voles and rabbits in there holes

The moon is shining

Aryn hummed the tune of the song many times as her son slipped into the darkness of sleep. When she saw he was asleep she flew silently out of the room. She soared to a cliff edge where her mate stood, looking over the sea of soldiers. His face showed no expression as a cold night breeze blew through his feathers.

"We cannot let him know he is related to Soren. He must never find out." Aryn informed him. For a moment he only watched as the army prepared for the oncoming war. Clouds covered the stars and in the distance, thunder could be heard.

"Soren's name will not be mentioned in this canyon." He growled. "I can't try tempting him that his relatives are evil, that didn't work for Nyroc or 'Coryn.' He spat out the name as if it were a terrible curse. Aryn nodded and for a long moment nothing could be heard, nothing made a sound as if nothing dared move. Suddenly a distant screech sounded out in the distance.

"What in the name of Hagmire!" Aryn shouted. A barn owl officer flew up to them with panic in his eyes. He was breathing so hard he could hardly speak. When he finally regained his breath he spoke

"News has reached me that one of our patrols was attacked by the enemy, sir!" He yelled. Kludd ll's eyes widened. "There were five of 'em! Two barn owl, two great grays, and an elf! Two were killed, one wounded and the others survived without any severe wounds. All of our patrol died in the fight, sir!" Kludd ll groaned.

"Name those who died in the fight." He ordered. The tall barn owl thought for a moment before he remembered.

"Their names were Mashti, Naron, Dirtbeak, Alex, Hores, and Liece." He stated. Kludd ll grunted angrily.

"Racdrops! Mashti and Naron were a couple of my best soldiers. Were their bodies recovered?" He asked the officer. He shook his head grimfuly.

"I'm afraid their bodies were not found." He tried to hide his tears. Naron was his little brother. He deserved a proper burial. Kludd ll only snorted with anger.

Hundreds of owls surrounded her cheering wildly at her horrid fate, stamping their talons against the ground, shaking the very earth. She quaked with fear but tried to meet her death bravely. The moon shone brightly overhead as she watched her very father sharpen his silver battle claws cleaned up all nice and pretty for the occasion. In the crowd she saw her brother in the crowd, forced to watch by guards standing all around him. He was weeping silently, tears staining his cheeks. He could hardly watch the terrible event. Once his father had finished sharpening his claws He began to walk over to his daughter, the crowd chanting loudly. His eyes darkened with bloodlust as he walked over to her. Then the crowd went silent so that the only sound was the clicking of his battle claws against the stone as he drew nearer. They waited until he was standing right in front of her before they began chanting again. His father flew up in the air and then swooping down at top speed, his claws ready. With a spine tingling screech he stabbed the claws deep into her stomach. She did a gurgling yell. As she lay dying on the cold stone floor she saw her brother being burned by a hot coal for showing weakness. She heard him shriek with pain and she could hear the sizzeling as the coal stained his beak forever black. Then everything began to fade, even the terrible pain of her father's claws digging deep into her stomach. Everything faded until all she could hear was the cries and shrieks of her little brother, who was no more than an owlet

He woke up screaming at the top of his lungs. Shamere was breathing hard as his gizzard churned. He was still gasping when his mother and father flew into the hollow at top speed. Aryn felt his forehead for even the slightest hint of a fever.

"What's wrong, Shamere!?" She asked, her voice thick with worry.

"It was just a bad dream, Mum. That's all."He gasped.

"What about?" His father questioned.

"About what you told me father. About your sister." He answered beginning to calm down. For a moment it looked like his father might hit him on the head but then his expression softened.

"It was just a dream, son. Get some sleep now. You have a long day of training ahead." His father scowled before flying out of the hollow.

He preened his down very carefully. The itch was beginning to fade away finally and the feathers grew more and more every day. Timatsu had helped him train a lot and he did almost as good at branching as his brother, which really impressed his father.

"Good jump, Shaze! That was most excellent. You are a natural! I will make a soldier of you yet!" He shouted praise to his son. Shaze was so happy. He was glad he trained with Timatsu. He was a good trainer. He jumped side by side with his brother. His father made him practice for long periods of time, hours at once and now he was very tired. He shared a nest with his brother.

"Thanks for helping me with branching, Timatsu. I've improved a lot with your help." He whispered thankfully.

"You're welcome." Timatsu yawned before falling asleep. It wasn't hard for Timatsu to fall asleep. But Shaze, for some reason, couldn't fall asleep. Something seemed to trouble him but he didn't know what. Maybe it was the storm, raging outside. He tossed and turned in his nest but couldn't get any rest. Finally, sighing loudly, he hopped out of bed and looked out over the sea. It always seemed to relax him, to look over the large expanse of water and see the little waves bobbing up in down, but today the waves rose high in the air, bashing against the shore. Rain poured heavily as lightening lit up the sky and thunder rolled loudly. Suddenly a loud, ear splitting alarm sounded out from everywhere. A matron whizzed up the tunnel and saluted to the king snapping awake at the sound of the alarm.

"I am here to report an attack on our squadron, sir." She said quickly.

"What happened!?" The king shouted angrily. Timatsu and Shaze couldn't help but listen in.

"The patrol of five owls you sent to Broken Talon Point apparently found the Pure Ones, sir. They were ambushed and only one has returned. She said two were killed in battle and the other died of a wound. Her brother got sucked up in an air current and drowned. She believes the Pure Ones are planning another attack against the Great Ga'hoole Tree, sir." The king was dumbstruck.

"Another attack?" The matron nodded. "Signal the soldiers we are sending another patrol! Timatsu you are going to help me chose those to go on the patrol!"

And with that Shaze's father and his brother disappeared down the tunnel.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

Shaze was thinking hard in his hollow. He was suspicious about his father because in training, though Shaze did it much better, his father insistedMost of his down had fallen out and he was turning out to be a handsome young owl. Timatsu had already begun flying and as usual, he excelled. He was still a little wobbly but their father only looked at the good parts about Timatsu. Sadly when it came to Shaze is father only looked at his flaws. Shaze had mastered branching and was good at the short flight sessions his father assigned that lengthened in time every day. He was hardly tilted in flight and was very graceful but his father always found something found something wrong with his flying. Maybe it was because he had not completely recovered from the attack on his recent patrol.

"You don't fly fast enough!" or "You look like a rat with wings, balance yourself!" and also "Your turns are rusty! If an enemy was flying straight at you, what would you do then, eh?" Shaze was trying his best but his best just wasn't good enough. He was flawed somehow, in some way. But how? He was pacing around in his hollow trying to figure out what was wrong, the crickets chirping and the mosquitoes buzzing in his ear seemed to distract him. Then a thought came to him. Was it because his father favored Timatsu? No that could not be. Sure he wasn't as strong as his brother, Sure he wasn't the firstborn, sure he wasn't as good at everything Timatsu did. It was just…just. His mind trailed off. Maybe that was the case. His father had always hugged Timatsu and praised him for his good work but He rarely praised Shaze and had never hugged him.

"Is it true?" He asked absolutely nothing and he never received an answer. Tears rose up in his eyes. It was true. He tried to deny it but there was no other explanation. Timatsu was just better than him. More loved. For a moment, he didn't care. For a moment his father's opinion didn't matter to him. But then he remembered who his father was. His father was King of the Great Tree and his opinion of his sons mattered to everyone. It decided what rank he could get as a soldier, it decided what chaw he would take and how advanced it would be and it decided how much authority he had over the Tree. Everything depended on it.

….

He flew with all his might and grace, fanning out his wings and soaring silently and quietly through the evening light. It was very early in the night but Shaze wasn't tired. He was absolutely focused on flying. His father watched him like a hawk, his dark brown eyes narrowed to slits as he examined his every move. Some of his down flaked off as he made a perfect turn, flapping his wing only once. He tried to remember everything his father told him about flying. He focused on the wind and made sure to adjust his wings to just the right angle to execute a perfect turn. He then flapped higher in the air and did the most recent move his father had taught him, the corkscrew. He dived downward at top speed, his wings hugged tightly to his body as he spiraled madly. He opened up his wings and shot upwards right before he hit the forest floor as if plucking a mouse from the ground. He did it the best he could and he knew he did it perfectly. When he finally lighted soundlessly in front of his father he waited patiently for his opinion. His father thought for a moment.

"It still needs a lot of work. You need to work on your—"An angry shriek cut him off.

"I've had enough, Father, I've had enough!"Shaze yelled. "I do my best for you every day! I do exactly what you've told me to do ever since I began training and it's just not good enough. I know I did that flight session perfectly because I followed your instructions very carefully! Why am I not as good as Timatsu? Why do you love him more than me?" Shaze said, teary eyed. His father was too shocked to speak. It was the first time Shaze had ever yelled at him.

"I- I…" His father said. "How did you know?" Shaze tried to hide his anger but beneath his feathers he was smoldering. So it was true. Shaze took a deep breath and slowly began to calm down.

"Ever since I was an owlet you had always treated Timatsu better than me. Its true Timatsu is better than me at almost everything but you had always loved him more. I don't know why but you do. I try my best to be like him but it's never good enough for you." Shaze sighed loudly. His father laid a talon on his sons shoulder, but Shaze shied away. He had swelled twice his original size.

"Shaze." He rumbled. Shaze did not answer. He looked away and wouldn't listen. After a few, heart stopping moments Shaze looked at his father, licking him in his cold gaze. "Why?" He asked. "Why do you love Timatsu more than me?" His father opened his mouth to speak but closed it again, for he had nothing to say.

"Do I mean anything to you?" Shaze murmured barely above a whisper. Again his father gave absolutely no answer. Shaze snorted and flew to the other side of the large hollow and snuggled in his nest, his back to his father.

"Shaze?" His father called. Shaze gave no clue that he heard, or even cared. Instead he preened his new feathers, throwing off the rest of his useless down.

…...

He stood in front of the army of barn owls. They were all waiting patiently for his orders. Today was the day of his final assessment. His father was beginning with the easiest, leadership. His father prepared half the army in Formation B1 Which is when there are ten rows of owls, the same number of soldiers in each. They were told to obey Shamere's every order or they would receive an awful punishment. So if Shamere said for them to walk into the wall, that's exactly what they were going to do. He prepared his voice and shouted out the first command.

"Marche!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. As soon as the word left his beak he heard the sound of many feet stepping at the same time. Left, right, left, right. He knew his father was somewhere watching him, he just didn't know where. He flew over the marching army. When he saw they were coming to a thinner section of the canyon he immediately knew what to say.

"Formation A2!" He ordered. Immediately the crowd of owls formed into three rows, an A2, and fit perfectly through the thin crevice. When he saw that there was space to take flight he had an idea of how to get through this part of the assessment quicker.

"Take flight! Keep formation!" He yelled. The owl militia rose up in the air and flew at a quick rate each flapping their wings at the same time.

"Turn! Starboard!" all the owls immediately rounded the curves perfectly. He smirked. For the next two hours in the unforgiving sun, he led the army through the canyon. Then he saw the underground tunnel. It was a large hole in the ground that sucked an owl underground and after going through a series of twists and turns before shooting them out on the other side of the canyon.

"Take Formation A1 and corkscrew into that hole." He shouted. The owls formed into a long line, a single row, and dived straight into the hole, each getting sucked in. He dived in excitedly. His mother would take him here and, carrying him in her talons, would dive in the hole. He would cry and scream with fright at the beginning but in the end he would beg Aryn to do it again. This tunnel was a piece of his childhood. The wind roared by his ears as he twisted madly, turned sharply, and dropped dramatically all at the same time while going at breakneck speed. He yelled with fear and delight. He hadn't been in this tunnel for a long time, he had almost forgotten what it felt like. Then it shot him straight out after the soldiers. For a long moment he flapped around like a rat with wings, but when he finally regained his perfect balance he ordered every owl into Formation B1. He finally made it to the other side of the canyon. His father and mother flew over to him and landed on a cliff edge.

"You did so well! You looked like a born leader." His mother praised. His father nodded and smiled.

"It was wise to use the vacuum tunnel to reach your goal quicker. It was a good idea to use everything as an upper hand and adjust the crevice space with the formations. I am very proud of you."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

"Time to settle down for bed, Shamere. You did very well today so tomorrow I'm going to give you as many caterpillars as I can find." His mother said cheerfully.

"Really! Thanks Mum." Shamere yawned. He was almost completely blinded by the sunlight flooding into the crevice. His mum's face was lit up and the shine in her eyes looked so warm and comforting. He closed his eyes and let sleep come over him. His mother, seeing he was asleep, flew silently out of the crevice and up to where her mate stood.

"The child is asleep." She informed. For a long moment Kludd II didn't respond but stared coldly into the distance. Suddenly he lashed out with his long battle claws, ripping open his mate's stomach. Blood spurted out of the wound. She had leaped out of the way far enough so the deadly battle claws didn't dig deep. Her white underbelly was stained red.

"You can't give him love! You do that and the next thing you know he will be showing mercy to his targets in battle! He won't be the perfect assassin… he will be the next Coryn." He screeched. His mate shook with fear but quickly regained her self, stony faced. "You can't lie to me. We aren't going to raise just a child here. He is next in line of the Pure Ones. He cannot know what love is. It's time to give up the act." His mate nodded.

"What? I'm not acting like I love him. He is our son after all." She took a deep breath and began to preen herself. "Next for Shamere, he will finally attend his last trial. Tupsi. You must be very proud of him, I know you are. All we need is someone close to him to be the sacrifice." Kludd smiled slyly.

"Oh don't worry, my dear, I know just the owl to be the sacrifice." He narrowed his eyes. His mate looked at him with surprise. She didn't know who it was but she had a sickening feeling it might just be her. She was the only one close enough to Shamere for him to kill.

"Is it me?" She whispered.

"…no." Kludd II answered. "I've done my research. Many years ago Soren had children, who had children, who had children and so on. One of them became monarch of the Great Tree and he has a son Shamere's age. His name is Shaze. If we get him, he will be the sacrifice." His mate had already known how he had gotten this information. He had infiltrated the Glauxian Brothers Retreat not long ago and learned all he could about the tree. How he had gotten by all the guards remained a hidden mystery.

"But doesn't it have to be someone you're close to?"She asked. Kludd II churred softly.

"I can make an exception." Aryn still had the sickened feeling within her. Something about this didn't seem right. In fact it just felt plain wrong. "Is there something wrong, Aryn?" He asked.

"N-nothing is wrong, dear. So when are we going to get Shaze?"

"I've already sent out the attack squadron."He retorted. "Shaze should be brought back here in at least nightfall." Aryn nodded and looked out as clouds covered the blazing sun. She hoped that Shaze wouldn't be brought back. Something about the thought ripped at her gizzard.

…...

Shaze planned his leaving with tears stinging his eyes. His father didn't love him so why should he stay? They would be perfectly happy without him around to eat the prey they catch for Timatsu. He had always wanted to go to Silverveil, Tyto would work to. They were both very nice places. He looked at the map closely as the sky outside began to darken and the stars came out. He rolled up the map and spread his wings to take flight. Before he took off he looked at the hollow he had grown up in. Timatsu, mum and da were all still asleep but he saw his brother stir. Shaze quickly lifted off into the sky, flying off as silently as possible. He looked up at the stars to see which direction he was headed. He turned left tor ward Silverveil. He already tingled with excitement. He would be able to find a hollow of his own and live freely with no rules, no early practices, and no yelling father. He would wake up to the beautiful skies of Silverviel and catching plump prey. He heard Silverveil was as close as a living owl can get to glaumora. With thoughts of clear, starry nights and plump rabbits in his head he sped up. He knew he had to fly all night and the next morning to get to the land of his dreams but he didn't care how sore his wings got, he would fly on. But his glee was short lived. He saw a group of six or seven barn owls flying at him at an alarming rate. He didn't like the look of these owls. Immediately he turned around and fled back to the Great Tree as fast as his wings could carry him.

"Come here you little twit!" Screeched one of the owls which was a huge male. "We gonna take ya to a nice place where you gonna meet a relative of yours." He opened a burlap bag and with a quick motion stuffed Shaze inside of it. They all churred heartily.

"That was almost too easy." A young male said as they carried poor Shaze to St. Aggies.

….

He woke up, dazed and sore. He was in a hole underground that was so thin he could hardly move an inch. Outside two guards stood by his small prison so he wouldn't escape. Then it came back to him. He recognized one of the owls who aided in his capture, the large Barn Owl who caught him in the bag. He didn't know where in the name of Glaux he was and he looked around as his vision cleared. He saw one of the guards talk to someone else he couldn't see but by the dark rumble of his voice Shaze knew he was not friendly. He finally mustered up enough courage to speak.

"W-where am I?" He asked. He heard an owl churr loudly, then the owl came into view. Shaze gasped at the sight of him. It was a tall Barn Owl, marked by countless scars staring straight at him with evil black eyes. "Welcome to St. Aggies." He growled. Shaze shook with fear as the large owl drew away.

"You should be honored young owl. You are going to aid Shamere in his wonderful ceremony tomorrow night." Squawked one of the guards.

"What ceremony?" Shaze tried to sound brave but tears were streaming down his face.

"Tupsi." The other answered monotonously. "Go to sleep. Now." Shaze nestle down and tried to make himself as comfortable as possible and, despite his troubles, fell into a disturbed sleep.

He woke up to the loud cheering of thousands and thousands of owls cheering loudly. Before he could sort out what was going on he was dragged out of his hole, bound with ropes, and brought through a crows of taunting and jeering owls. He was then thrown to the center of the crowd. For a moment he couldn't see but when his vision cleared he saw a young, yet large barn owl with his head lowered and his wings raised high. He gave a low hooting sound as he edvanced to Shaze. Shaze's eyes widened with fear as he heard the clank of the battle claws of which the young owl wore on his talons. Shaze was frozen with fear as the owl screeched loudly and flew at him, claws extended…


	8. Chapter 8

Authors note: Please ignore my sister, kyuubecky's, remark. She's a strange one.

Chapter 7

Everything seemed to slow for Shaze. He saw the glint of the battle claws on the talons of the owl as he flew at him. He couldn't move, it was as if he was going yeep, the owl term for when the wings locked and the owl plummeted to the ground, but he wasn't flying. He could only watch as the pointed claws advanced. He regained his senses and tried to fly out of the way but it was too late. The claws dug deep into his port wing, shredding the feathers and skin off of it. Blood spurted out and all over his rival. Shaze screeched in pain but knew if he wanted to survive he would have to fight back but he couldn't fly and he wasn't armed. The owl flew at him again with an excited glint in his eye. Shaze dodge and lunged at the owl with his beak. He was only able to tear a few feathers. The crowd gasped in excitement. Never before had a sacrifice fought back. The owl kept attacking him viciously and Shaze kept dodging. The larger owl was persistent. He remained untouched while Shaze streamed blood. Then he remembered the few battled tactics his father had shown him. The words came flowing back to him.

"If you are unarmed and facing an opponent the best thing to do is to dodge out of the way in quick movements to tire your rival out. If you are wounded in places the make it hard to dodge in quick movements then try to size your enemy up and predict his next move. Then dodge out of the way early so you won't get hit but make sure you don't look to obvious." Shaze sized up his enemy. He was slightly larger than he was so that meant Shaze could dodge him easily. His wing continued to bleed heavily and the pain was life threatening but he kept dodging.

"Shamere! Kill him already!" the same massive owl that had spoken to him the other day was shouting at his attacker. It must be his father. The young owl tried harder but just couldn't seem to catch Shaze who was overfilling with confidence as he remembered what his father had told him. He didn't realize that at the Tree Timatsu had gathered a search and rescue team that was nearing to where he fought.

Timatsu gasped in horror as he saw his little brother fighting another owl. His fear continued to expand when he saw Shaze's shredded, bloody, wing. He immediately went into a spiral dive to snatch his brother. Only then did Shaze and his opponent notice him.

"Timatsu!" He shouted with excitement but then things took a terrible twist. His enemy was already filled with frustration and seeing this was too much. He flew at Timatsu, claws outstretched. Now it was Shaze's turn to be horrified. Blood reddened the night as the owl's claws met Timatsu's stomach and Shaze's brother began to fall to the ground. There was a loud thud as he hit the stone ground and a sharp snap.

"NO!"Shaze yelled as he flew over to his brother's side. Timatsu lay on his broken wing and there was a deep gash in his stomach. He looked up at Shaze and managed a painful smirk.

"Glaux bless, Shaze. I will always envy your-" He never finished. He blew his last breath and his eyes slowly closed. For a long moment Shaze looked down at his brother's unmoving body. Then an owl picked up the body and started to fly back to the Great Tree.

"Shaze, can you fly?" One of the owls said. Shaze could only nod mutely. The other owls were distracting the Pure Ones by flying and attacking each one of them. When Shaze lifted off he didn't even feel the pain of his marred wing as he flapped clumsily after the other two owls. He felt as if his life was over. His brother had been the only one who had ever treated Shaze with any respect at all. He was the only owl who ever noticed him and now he was dead. Tears were water falling down Shaze's cheeks. Now he only wanted all the more to escape his father.

….

He had been in the infirmary for weeks and not once had his father or his mother stopped to visit him. The matron assured Shaze that his father was still grieving for Timatsu and Shaze knew he was to, but doesn't his father care that he lay painfully in a downy bed with his wing wrapped up and half dead? What if he was never able to fly ever again? What if his wing got infected and he died? He knew the answer. His father would grieve over his older brother and not giving a heck to his other dead son. But Shaze knew it wasn't long until his feathers grew back on his wing. The nurse said that it would take longer because they were new feathers and they are harder to grow back. At least he could leave again in about a week's time. But to Shaze's total surprise he saw his father fly into the infirmary with an angry look in his face. It was a long moment until he spoke

"It's all your fault Timatsu is dead." His voice cracked." If you hadn't run away that day then Tim wouldn't have gone out of his way to help you. What were you thinking?" Shaze didn't respond, just glared back at his father. "I expect an answer."

"Why did you favor Tim? You made him co-leader and I was just an officer. I didn't even get to command any guardians. You let Tim do that to. What made you think he was better than I was?"

"He wasn't a foolish, ignorant little brat. He never hesitated to do the work I required him to do. He was good in fights and was an excellent warrior, the perfect king. He never went to war. If it hadn't been for you he might have. In fact once you recover I will exile you from the Great Ga'hoole Tree and if you ever show your face again the consequences will be dire."

….

Shamere couldn't look his father in the eyes. He knew he was very angry with him for not killing the young owl. He didn't know why but there was a resemblance between them, as if they were distant brothers.

"I am very disappointed in you. I am disgusted to call you my son. That was the only time in the history of the Pure Ones that the sacrifice survived." His voice was dangerously soft and cool. It made Shamere shiver; he didn't mean to let the owl go. He felt a cold fear creep up inside of him as his father stopped his pacing and stood in front of him. He looked up in his father's eyes and was surprised to see a gleam of pride in his dark eyes. "But you did kill an owl that appeared to be quite close to him. Every soldier said you were so angry it frightened even them. The screech you let out chilled their spines, rattled their bones."

Shamere looked up at his father with a glimmer of hope which quickly faded. He knew his father wasn't exactly the forgiving type. He sighed loudly.

"I will drop this subject until further notice, but not forever, mind you. One more mistake like that and I'll feed you to the vampire bats got that?" He hooted. Shamere nodded vigorously glad not to be torn limb from limb by his father's sharpened beak and talons. His father's beak had always given him the willies. It was blacker then that of a rogue smiths, not a smidge of its normal color remained. It was as if it was a coal itself, heated enough to burn bones at one point and cold enough to freeze a rat to death the next. It was clear his father was still fuming at him but until his father came up with a punishment, he was safe. Usually he had to fly laps all night but he knew from what he did, he would probably have to fly laps for three nights. He's done it before and he couldn't stand for a week. His father was humored greatly by this.

…...

She worked ceaselessly in her forge on her new piece. She was designing what she called art. She stuck silver and gold in a flame using the hottest coals she could find, melting and merging them together. She usually did this in such a pattern that beautiful swirls are formed in the new piece of metal but tonight she was just winging it. She was wondering what it would be like if she where to make tools of this metal. She wasn't sure how strong it would be but she loved to experiment when it came to artistic design. Most rogue smiths call her a fool for not making things that were actually beneficial to owl kind but she didn't mind what they said. She twisted her tongs and lowered the melting metal closer to the coals to raise the temperature. When she finally pulled out her new piece she gasped at its beauty. Not only was the pattern excellent but it was shaped like the eye of a wolf. This was something she knew must be valuable. She put it in a special jar to let it cool down and harden over day. She felt proude of her work. She looked at the fire and remembered those were her last coals. She swiftly grabbed her bucket and flew quickly to the Beyond.

"Stupid!" She said to herself. "How could I have forgotten the coals?"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8

She flew to the Beyond as swift as her wings could carry her. All because she didn't usually make useful tools doesn't mean she didn't need to. She had been flying for who knows how long when Dunmore, a volcano that recently became very active, came into view. As she neared it she saw signs of an eruption already occurring. Smoke was billowing out of the immense craterlike a dark storm cloud and the mountain seemed to be shaking. She forced herself to fly faster, though her wings grew heavier by the second. She saw some lava flowing down from the top like a river down the steep side of the volcano; it seemed to glow in colors of orange, yellow, and red. Owls were already circling the crater, preparing to catch the coals that spewed from the top, though very rarely did one succeed. She could hear the distant howls and yelps of the wolves that guarded the volcanoes as they searched the skies for any stray owls. They make sure that no owl tries to dive in and grab the legendary Ember of Hoole. If it fell into the wrong hands who knows what may happen. She tried not to think about that as she arrived above the crater of Dunmore. The molten lava was boiling and rising closer and closer to the top. Eventually some of the lava began to spill out over the top of the crater. She heard a deep rumbling that rang in her ear slits and shook the Earth. She flew to a safe distance and watched in wonder. The rumbling grew louder and louder until it was beyond deafening and following that there was a loud explosion and lava was thrown hundreds of feet in the air and coals whizzed by everywhere. She was trying to focus on catching the coals in her beak and bucket but something about the fire drew her in. It took away her concentration to the coals and she felt completely focused on the lava. What was she seeing in the molten material that drew her so much?

In the midst of the boiling liquid she saw to owls glaring at each other with hate filled eyes. They were barn owls and they resembled one another so much they must've been brothers. She saw something other than hate in their eyes. In one's eyes she saw loss and in the other's she saw fear. Before she could make sense of what she had seen she snapped out of it as a coal landed harshly into her bucket. She shook her head wildly trying to shake off the feeling that she had just seen something she wasn't supposed to. She flew down to the foot of the volcano and picked up fresh coals, filling her bucket to the brim. When she was content she had enough she lifted off and headed the direction of Silverveil. She had heard news that an ancient rogue smith's scroom had once haunted the very forge she worked in but she didn't believe it. It wasn't that she didn't believe in scrooms but she wasn't a complete believer either. As dawn rose upon the horizon and weariness seeped through her she knew she had to rest. She lighted down on a branch of an ancient pine and hopped into a hollow. She felt uncomfortable sleeping in a tree since she lived in a forge on the ground but she settled down and tried to sleep. Then her thoughts drew to the sights she saw in the explosion of lava during the eruption. The eruption had felt so brief. Did she have fire sight or was she just going yoiks? She truthfully had not the slightest idea. She seriously doubted she had fire sight. It must've been from the lack of sleep she had yesterday but she just couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen in the owl kingdoms, something was about to erupt.

….

Shaze wasn't about to wait until his wing completely healed to escape the burning hatred of his father. In midday his eyes slowly opened. He blinked several times until his eyes adjusted to the light and he was able to stand up. He quietly unraveled the bandage to reveal his wing. He expected a scar to be stretching like a canyon across his wing but instead he saw an almost perfectly healed wing, ready for flight. It hardly even ached. He hopped out of the hollow and to the edge of the large Branch. He swiveled his head and tuned his sharp ears to search for anyone that might have seen him leave the infirmary but he was the only owl out at the moment. In fear that someone might find him he flew away as fast as he dared with his wing in the direction of Silverveil. He wanted to live like every other owl, not like a king or an officer or any owl that would be known in history. He just wanted to live as a normal owl of Silverveil where the prey is rich and nights are perfect. He was already day dreaming about the life he would lead. He might travel as far as the Northern Kingdoms. He didn't know. It wasn't long before his left wing grew sore and tired and he began to slow down. He just cruised in the light breeze, trying to rely more on his starboard wing then his port. He looked into the distance but he couldn't see any tree line. All he could see was the large sea he had to conquer. He thought his wing was healed enough for large distances but eventually where he had gotten stabbed began to sting. He was able to put up with it for a few hours but eventually the entire wing was encased in terrible pain and the wing began to throb. He thought things couldn't possibly get worse. He was hungry, tired, and in pain but when he looked behind him into the distance he saw a dark cloud.

"Odd." He thought. "There is no other storm cloud in the sky. And it is moving quite fast." Then he heard vicious squawks and caws in the distance. His eyes widened in fear and he nearly went yeep. Crows! He ignored the pain in his wing and flew as fast as he could. The wind turned against him and blew the opposite direction, slowing him down. The mob of crows seemed to be drawing nearer and nearer by the minute. Shaze felt completely hopeless as the wind blew stronger and his wing became weaker. He couldn't keep flying this fast much longer. He felt himself losing elevation. Then he saw the tree line. He was so close, so very close.

"All well." He thought. As he closed his eyes and plummeted down to the sea. "All well." Then something seemed to yell at him on the inside. His eyes snapped open and he screeched loudly, flying as fast as he could again, flapping his wings with such force that it surprised even him. The crows weren't coming so fast since the sky was darkening. Shaze was determined to make it to his goal, to Silverveil. He didn't want to be torn to shreds by bloodthirsty crows. He heard it was an awful way to die.

…...

He had flown so much that it felt his wings might fly off. For four nights he had to wake up early and practice his spiral dives until late into dawn. It was his punishment and no matter how hard he tried he was never able to do it perfect enough. His father always found fault with how he performed. He had lost track of how many times he had flown around the canyon.

"All right Shamere you may come down now, I believe you have learned your lesson." His father called out from his perch. Shamere managed to land with grace, despite how weary he was. He couldn't feel his wings, he was sure he had lost half of his feathers. With permission from his father he was able to fly into his nest and rest. He nestled deep into the downy nest and wondered where his mother was. She had been gone all day and he could only wonder what has become of her. His father said she was alright, that she just needed to contact a rogue smith so she had to cross the sea of Hoolemere to get to it and she won't return for a few more days. This discouraged Shamere since his mother was always so loving and kind and his father was cold hearted and dark. There was such a big difference between them; he wondered how they had ever become mates. He knew that they were complete opposites but he sensed love between them. Eventually he fell into a troubled sleep.

…...

She was forging a beautiful piece of artwork in the fire, like a wolf's eye. She seemed so happy and peaceful as she put her work into a jar and set it on a shelf. She seemed about ready to fall asleep when suddenly Aryn flew into the nest, screeching madly. She had grabbed the rogue smith and hit her on the head with her own tongs. She dropped down unconscious. Aryn smirked evilly as she stuffed the smith in a bag and flew off.

….

Shamere woke with a scream, breathing hard. His mother wouldn't do that to any owl! Why had he dreamed such a horrid thing? Then he remembered that his mother had gone to visit a rogue smith. But that was just a nightmare, right?

….

Shaze crash landed on an old, gnarled, pine tree, gasping for breath. He dizzily got to his feet and looked behind him. No crows. The tree had a hollow above him so, using the last of his strength; he hopped a little higher and collapsed into it. As soon as he fell his adrenaline ran out a weariness crashed down on him like a wall. The only thing that matched his tiredness was his pain. He lifted his wing to examine it, wincing from the pain, and saw a steady stream of blood dripping down from the matted feathers. He groaned as he let his wing drop. What was he thinking? He knew his wing wasn't completely healed before he set off. How could he be so stupid? Just like that, he realized the answer. His father. It was all his father's fault in the first place. If his father hadn't treated him like a useless waste of space he wouldn't have run way, Timatsu wouldn't have come looking for him, then he wouldn't be dead and then he wouldn't be banished. He didn't care if his father was the king of the entire world, he hated him and he always would.


End file.
